OT - simplest program for recording and saving mp3s on a PC?

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sat May 08, 2004 2:13 pm

Hey guys -

I use Goldwave personally, but a friend of mine is trying to get set up to record simple mp3s and is having trouble with the Goldwave program, it won't install correctly. Is there a relatively straightforward program you can recommend for saving mp3s from a microphone input on a PC? I don't know what version of windows it is offhand. It's not a local friend or I could go over and poke at it myself; I'll have to give instructions through email instead.

Thanks in advance!

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Sat May 08, 2004 2:23 pm

Audacity is hard to beat. Simple, powerful, and absolutely free.

Well, it does have some advanced features that aren't so simple, but as far as just straighforward recording, it doesn't get much easier--you just use it like a tape recorder, push the button and go.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net

--James

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sat May 08, 2004 2:49 pm

Thanks Jim -

Looks like Audacity needs a secondary download of the LAME encoder files, like Goldwave did. Is there any program that doesn't require this additional step? It's the install process that I'm most concerned about.

Cyfiawnder · Post by **Cyfiawnder** » Sat May 08, 2004 6:12 pm

Sounic Foundry Sound Forge. It also has a spectrum analizer that will display each tone as the Correct NOTE. A2, B3... etc. It also has easy to use tools for cleaning up the sound.

antstastegood · Post by **antstastegood** » Sun May 09, 2004 1:33 am

CDex - http://www.cdex.n3.net/

billw · Post by **billw** » Sun May 09, 2004 2:05 pm

avanutria wrote:Thanks Jim -

Looks like Audacity needs a secondary download of the LAME encoder files, like Goldwave did. Is there any program that doesn't require this additional step? It's the install process that I'm most concerned about.

Installing LAME is trivial - just drop it in your program files / audacity directory and when Audacity asks, tell it where the encoder is. I'd think there would be better instructions, but hey, Audacity is free, so why quibble over nits? One caveat -- I run Audacity on a notebook that has a Pentium 2 processor, and (rarely, but sometimes) experience short dropouts while recording. More of an annoyance than anything else, but I would decidedly not use this setup for "final" recording when prepping for burning CDs. I haven't noticed this propensity on faster machines.

Have fun!
Bill Whedon
Serpent Music

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sun May 09, 2004 3:59 pm

Well, we seem to have goldwave sort-of working, and are going to continue on Monday. It's very odd - the computer isn't detecting the microphone. it's in the mic jack, we've checked volume settings, the mic works with other, non-computer hardware...

Line in using another audio source (other than the mic) seems to be working, though, from what I've been told, so we're going to give that a shot. Roundabout solution.

Thanks for the suggestions, and if you have any thoughts on why a mic isn't picking up, please let me know. We know the mic is functional. we know the volume levels on the system are okay. We know it's not just goldwave because even sound recorder isn't detecting any sound. My friend said something about running Hardware Tests on the mic too but I was too sleepy at that point to take it in.

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Sun May 09, 2004 4:23 pm

Some computers use the mic jack as an audio channel out for additional speakers. There should be utility that will allow you to select your speaker setup--make sure it is set for either 2 speakers or headphone.

Also go into the volume control / mixer, go under "options," "properties," and make sure the microphone device is enabled for recording and playback.

Also once you can see the volume slider for the mic, make sure it isn't muted out.

If you'll post what kind of sound card (or motherboard if it's embedded) you're dealing with, and what OS, I'll try to give you more specific instructions.

--James

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sun May 09, 2004 4:52 pm

peeplj wrote:Also go into the volume control / mixer, go under "options," "properties," and make sure the microphone device is enabled for recording and playback.

Also once you can see the volume slider for the mic, make sure it isn't muted out.

Did those, thanks Jim. The volume slider for the mic is about 3/4 up. The mute is enabled but it is on my system too - that just keeps the mic sound from coming right back out the speakers. We tried unmuting it but no effect.

I don't have the OS info handy, but I'm guessing it's XP Home; I believe the sound card showed up as "SigmaTel Audio" in one of the dropdown boxes. I'll see if I can find anything regarding the speaker setup. Thanks for the suggestions!

peeplj · Post by **peeplj** » Sun May 09, 2004 5:17 pm

Beth, that's not a card I'm familiar with off the top of my head, lemme see what I can find out.

--James

Update: from doing some googling, looks like many many folks have trouble with that particular sound solution. I would think your problem is not Goldwave-specific, and will also occur with Audacity or any other program you install with this system.

This appears to be an embedded (or possibly on a riser card) sound solution. Your real best bet may be to disable it in BIOS and purchase a sound card for this system.

Sorry I didn't have better news for you.

--James

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sun May 09, 2004 5:39 pm

No worries, Jim, thanks for looking! I'll let you know what happens after tomorrow's long-distance tech support session.